CSIROBIOSECURITYFLAGSHIP

UUandUU2,the
parkinsonialoopermoths:
Guidelinesforastandardizedreleaseand
monitoringframeworkforthesebiocontrol
agents

AndrewWhite,GioFichera,&S.Raghu

CSIROBiosecurityFlagship;EcosciencesPrecinct,GPOBox2583,Brisbane,4001
Email:Andrew.White@csiro.au;Gio.Fichera@csiro.au;s.raghu@csiro.au

KeyCollaborators:KelliPukallus(QueenslandDepartmentofAgriculture,Fisheries&Forestry);Bert
Lukitsch,LouisElliotandNatashaBurrows(NorthernTerritoryDepartmentofLandResource
Management);KayBailey,CallumMcDonald&MickEverett(DepartmentofAgriculture&Food,Western
Australia);LindaAnderson(PilbaraMesquiteManagementCommittee),MelanieMcDonald(Rangelands
NRM,WesternAustralia),MarinaWall(FitzroyRiver&CoastalCatchmentsInc.)
August2014

|1

WhyreleasetheseinsectsintoAustralia?

ParkinsoniaaculeataisnativetotheAmericasand
isrecognisedasoneofthetwentyworstweedsin
Australia.Ithasbeendeclaredinallstatesand
territories.TheAustralianWeedCommittee
approvedparkinsoniaasatargetforbiological
controlinAustraliain1983.

LifecycleofUU&UU2

Threeinsectspecieshavepreviouslybeenreleased
inAustraliabutonlyone,theseedfeedingbruchid,
Penthobruchusgermaini,fromArgentina,
establishedanddispersedreadily.Althoughthe
bruchidiswidespread,ithassofarfailedtohavea
significantimpact.
Theleaffeedingloopercaterpillar,Eueupithecia
cisplatensis(nicknamedUU)andEueupithecia
species2(nicknamedUU2),wereidentifiedin
Argentina,andhavethepotentialtobeaneffective
biologicalcontrolagentforparkinsonia.

Isitsafe?Whatelsedoesiteat?
Afterpreliminarytestinginthefieldandin
laboratoryconditionsinArgentina,CSIROimported
UUandUU2intoaquarantinefacilityinBrisbane
wheretestingwascompletedonabroadrangeof
plantspecies.Testingconcludedthatbothmoths
arehighlyspecifictoparkinsoniawithnewly
hatchedlarvaesurvivingnomorethanacoupleof
daysonnontargettestplantsbeforestarvingto
death.
Basedontheseinvestigations,Australianregulatory
authorities(currently,DepartmentofAgriculture
andDepartmentofEnvironment)havegiven
permissionfortheirfieldreleaseinAustralia.

BothUUandUU2havesomewhatsimilarlifecycles.
Thefemalemothlayshereggsontheleavesof
parkinsonia.Eggshatchafter57days.Newly
hatchedlarvae(caterpillars),lessthan2mmlong,
beginfeedingontheleaflets.Theycontinuefeeding
foraround15days,growingtoapproximately2cm
inlengthbeforepupating(formacocoon).Adult
mothsemergefromthecocoonsafter57days,
mate,femaleslaytheireggs,andthecyclebegins
again.

Expectations
Thedamagetotheplantisdonebythelarvae
feedingontheleaves,defoliatingtheplant.This
reducestheplantsabilitytophotosynthesise
impactingonthehealthoftheplant,makingit
moresusceptibletodisease,andreducinggrowth
andseedproduction.
TherearenoguaranteesastohowsuccessfulUU
andUU2willbe.Likeallinsects,theywillbepreyed
upon,particularlybyspiders,ants,andwasps.Our
aimistoestablishpopulationsthroughoutnorthern
Australia.IfUUandUU2populationscanovercome
predation,theycouldhaveasignificanteffecton
parkinsoniainfestations.Biologicalcontrolisrarely
aquickfixsolutionandonlytimewilltellhow
muchofanimpactUUandUU2willhaveon
controllingparkinsonia.

Female

Eggs

Larvae(caterpillars)2weeksold

Male

Adultmoths(femalehasalargerabdomen)

BothUUandUU2haveasimilarappearancethroughouttheirlifecycle.Withexperience,thelargersize
ofUU2relativetoUUwillbecomeapparenttothetrainedeye.Thetwoloopersdonotinterbreed,and
canonlybetoldapartbydissectionofgenitalia.

AndrewWhite,GioFichera,&S.Raghu|1

Guidelines:fieldreleaseandmonitoring
GiventhatfieldreleasesofUUandUU2arebeing
madeacrossQLD,NTandWA,itwouldbehelpfulif
releaseandmonitoringmethodswere
standardized.Thefollowingaresomeguidelinesin
thisregard.

Selectionofnurserysites
Ineachofthereleaseregions,werecommendthat
36sitesbeselectedtoserveasnurserysitesfor
eachofthetwospecies.Atpresent,itwillbe
helpfulifUUandUU2arenotreleasedatthesame
sites.Thefollowingcriteriamayassistinthe
selectionofgoodnurserysites:

Parkinsoniaplantsareinhealthycondition,as
maybethecasewhentheyaregrowingaspart
ofriparianvegetation,oronthebankofa
dam/reservoir
Thesitesareeasilyaccessibletoenableregular
releasesoftheinsects
Thesitesarenotearmarkedforother
management(e.g.mechanicalorchemical
control)inthenearfuture
Plantsdonotshowsignsofsootymouldorhave
scaleinsects.Thelatterisusuallyagoodsign
thattherewillbeplentyofantstendingthe
scaleinsects.Antsareveryefficientpredators
ofthebiocontrolagents,andwillundothegood
workyouputintothereleases.

Thesenurserysiteswillbeimportantforensuring
thattheagentsgetestablishedreliablyatleastat
theselocationsinthelandscape.Overtime,these
populationsofinsectswillspreadandcolonize
othersitesfromthesenurserysites.
Anyadditionalreleasesthatyoumaybeabletodo,
willalsobeveryhelpfulbut,attheveryleast,
pleaseplanforestablishingnurserysites.Ourgoal
for20142017istohaveaminimumof36such
sites/agenteach,inQLD,NTandWA.

Suggestedmethodsofrelease
Larvae:Larvaearetypicallyshippedortransported
tothereleaselocationonsprigsofparkinsonia.
Whenreleasinglarvae,tryandtietogetherseveral
parkinsoniabranchesusingziptiestocreatea
nest(seepicturebelow)withinwhichthesprigs
containingthelarvaecanbeplaced.Thismaximizes

thechancesofsurvivalforthelarvaegivingtheman
abundantfood,andaplacetoshelterfrom
predators(e.g.wasps,birds).
Pupae:Pupaearetheinactivestageofthelifecycle,
aretypicallyshippedontransportedintakeaway
foodcontainers.Whenreleasingpupae,housethe
containerwithpupaeinadelta/pyramidtrap,ora
cleanicecreamcontainer,andsuspendthe
trap/containerfromaparkinsoniabranchusing
twineoracable(seepicture).Usecopiousamounts
ofStickem,anontoxicglue,onthetwine/cableto
preventantsfromraidingthepupae.
Maintaindetailedrecordsofreleases(includingGPS
coordinates,photos,datesandnumberofinsects
released),asthiswillbeusefulinunderstanding
whyestablishmentoftheinsectssucceededor
failed.Asampledatasheetforeachreleaseeventis
showninAppendix1.

Suggestedmethodsofmonitoring
Tryandmonitorthenurserysitesatleast3timesin
ayear;twiceinthedryseason,andonceinthe
transitionfromthedrytothewetseason.Sincethe
larvaeareverygoodatmimickingparkinsonia
foliageorthorns,detectingtheirpresenceby
searchingplantsisverydifficultandlaborious.The
beatsheetmethodisausefulmonitoringtoolfor
theseinsects.
Beatsheets(seepicturesbelow)caneitherbe
handheldorlaidontheground.Select610ofthe
healthiestparkinsoniaplantsclosetotherelease
areaatasite.Beatingthehealthyfoliageofeachof
thesetreesabovethebeatsheetusingastickwill
dislodgeanyUUandUU2present;itwillalso
dislodgeanyotherinsects.Examiningthesheets
andrecordingthenumbersofUU/UU2,andthe
presenceofotherinsects(notablypredatory
insects)willhelprecordtheevidenceofsuccessful
establishmentofpopulationsofthebiocontrol
agents.Itcantakealittletimeforthelarvaeto
becomeactive.Sobepatientandsearchthesheet
forseveralminutes.Itisusefultostandardizethe
numberofbeats,andtoalsorecordthesizeofbeat
sheetbeingusedtocollectthedata,asthiswill
allowcomparisonsofestablishmentsuccessacross
locations(seeAppendix2).

2|GuidelinesforastandardizedreleaseandmonitoringframeworkforUUandUU2(parkinsonialoopermoths)


(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)

(E)

(F)

(G)

(H)

(A)ShipmentofUUlarvae;(B)ShipmentofUUpupae;(C)&(D)ReleasesofUUintoaparkinsonianest;(E)Setting
upadelta/pyramidtrapforreleaseofpupae;(F)CoatingthetraphandlewithStickem;(G)Takeawaycontainerwith
pupaeplacedindeltatrap(withadultUUemerging);(H)Modifiedicecreamcontainerforreleaseofpupae

AndrewWhite,GioFichera,&S.Raghu|3

(I)

(J)

(L)

(K)

(M)

(I)Placementofpupalreleasecontainersamidtheparkinsoniacanopy;(J),(K),(L)&(M)Beatsheetmethodfor
detectionofdislodgedUU/UU2(notedifferencesinsizeofbeatsheetsused,andtheirrelativeadvantages).

PhotoSources:(B),(G),(H),(J)&(L):KelliPukallus,QueenslandDepartmentofAgriculture,Fisheriesand
Forestry;(A),(C),(D),(E),(F),(I),(K)&(M):CSIRO

Monitoringthespreadofinsects

Oncepopulationsestablish,overtime,insectswill

50m
spreadoutandcolonizetheentirepatchof
50m
Releasearea
parkinsoniawherereleasesweremade.Todetect
thisspreadofinsects,usethebeatsheetmethodto
75m
survey610healthyparkinsoniatreesclosetothe
originalreleaseareaatasite.Then,radiate
outwardsfromthereleaseareaandsamplea
similarnumberofparkinsoniatrees,atasequence
50m
offixeddistances(e.g.every25mfromtherelease
area)indifferentdirections.Ifyounotethedistance
fromthereleaseareaatwhichyounolongerdetect
75m
UUorUU2,thiswillgiveyouameasureofthe
75m
extentofdispersalbytheseinsectsinthetimesince

Aschematicrepresentationofaparkinsoniapatchwhere
theoriginalrelease.Thisinformationwillbevery
biocontrolagentshavebeenreleased,showingsampling
usefultounderstandhowwelltheinsectsarelikely
locationsatsetdistancesfromthereleaseareawhere
tocolonizenearbyparkinsoniapatches,including
onecouldsampletomonitorspreadoftheseinsectsover
patcheswherereleaseshavenotbeenmade.
time.

4|GuidelinesforastandardizedreleaseandmonitoringframeworkforUUandUU2(parkinsonialoopermoths)

Appendix1:Sampledatasheetforreleaseandsitedata
MLAParkinsoniaBiologicalControlProject
ReleaseandestablishmentofEueupitheciaspp.(UUandUU2)
Date:

Site:
GPScoordinates:

UUorUU2(circle)

State:

Nearestmajortowncentre:

Landowner:

Address:

phonecontact:

email:

Contact/collaborator:

Releasedetails:

Releasedby:

Initialreleaseorfollowuprelease:

Lifestage:
eggs
larvae(+approxage)
pupae
adults
Otherinformation:

Photostaken:

Issitepronetoflood:y/n
Isthereaccessinwetseason:y/n

Descriptionofinfestation&othernotes:

Important:Pleasesendthisinformationtooneofthecontactslistedonthecoverpageofthisdocument.

AndrewWhite,GioFichera,&S.Raghu|5

Appendix2:Sampledatasheetforbeatsheetdataoninsectestablishmentandspread
MLAParkinsoniaBiologicalControlProject
ReleaseandestablishmentofEueupitheciaspp.(UUandUU2)
Sitename:

GPSCoordinates:

DatesofreleasesofUU/UU2:

Sizeofbeatsheet(lengthxbreadthinm):

Numberofbeats/tree:

Predatory
Distance(inm)fromreleasearea
Tree#
#UU/UU2 Insects
Notes
0(i.e.atreleasearea)
1

0(i.e.atreleasearea)
2

0(i.e.atreleasearea)
3

0(i.e.atreleasearea)
4

0(i.e.atreleasearea)
5

0(i.e.atreleasearea)
6

25
1

25
2

Thesedistancesfromthe
25
3

releaseareaareprovided
25
4

asexamples.Pleaseselect
25
5

distancesappropriateto
25
6

theparkinsoniapatchthat
50
1

youaremonitoring.The
50
2

distancesneednot
50
3

necessarilybeatregular
50
4

intervals.
50
5

Sampleaminimumof6
50
6

treesateachdistance
50
1

fromthereleasearea.
75
2

75
3

75
4

75
5

75
6

100
1

100
2

100
3

100
4

100
5

100
6

125
1

125
2

125
3

125
4

125
5

125
6

Important:Pleasesendthisinformationtooneofthecontactslistedonthecoverpageofthisdocument.

6|GuidelinesforastandardizedreleaseandmonitoringframeworkforUUandUU2(parkinsonialoopermoths)